Remembering Ayrton Senna's IndyCar Test, 25 Years Later

Twenty-five years ago today, Ayrton Senna and Emerson Fittipaldi arrived at Firebird Raceway in Arizona so the former could test one of Roger Penske's IndyCars. In hindsight, we know this test was a savvy move on Senna's part, pressuring his F1 team, McLaren (and his boss, Ron Dennis) for a better contract. Regardless, it proved to be an incredibly important moment in motorsports history.

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Senna only ran 24 laps at Firebird, but those laps meant a lot to a number of people. On the 25th anniversary of the F1 legend's IndyCar test, our Marshall Pruett interviewed racing legends Roger Penske, Rick Mears, and Paul Tracy, plus journalist Jeremy Shaw, along with Senna's countrymen Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. Watching it will quickly show how important this day was, in Senna's life and in IndyCar history.

YouTubeMarshall Pruett

YouTubeMarshall Pruett

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Penske says the whole thing started with a call from Marlboro's motorsports advertising man, John Hogan. The tobacco company sponsored both Team Penske and McLaren at the time, and Senna and former F1 champ (and then-current Penske driver) Fittipaldi were friends. So a test for Senna made perfect sense, even if Penske didn't have any open seats.

Not that it mattered. "You'd be foolish not to put Senna in your book right away if he was available," Penske said. "We would have probably tried to figure something out."

This test was a big deal around the racing world. Both Kanaan and Castroneves remember hearing about it as young drivers trying to make it in Europe. It especially had an impact on Kanaan.

YouTubeMarshall Pruett

"That brought a lot of credit to IndyCar. I was already very interested, and that just sealed the deal for me," Kanaan said.

"I was having a hard time in Europe, and I remember him coming back from that test and saying, 'You should investigate [IndyCar]. The cars are fun to drive, a lot of power, not a lot of downforce so you can powerslide.' He was really excited about that."

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Senna performed well at the test. Fittipaldi went out in the morning to get the car set up, and ran a best lap of 49.9 seconds. By the end of the day, Senna managed 49 seconds flat. Mears remembers being impressed by the Brazilian champ.

"Usually someone in a new car, when they start hustling a bit, will get into a little tank-slapper," Mears said. "He leaned on the thing, it stepped out, he caught it, kept it there, and slowly straightened the thing out to the apex. No tank-slapper, no wiggle, no nothing."

YouTubeMarshall Pruett

YouTubeMarshall Pruett

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Penske obviously valued his time with Senna—the racing boss has just completed a restoration of the Penske PC21-Chevrolet that Senna drove at Firebird. Kanaan and Castroneves both feel this says a lot about the Captain, and Senna. The Brazilian just seemed to touch people's lives wherever he went.

So, enjoy this documentary from Pruett and co-director Travis Long. It's a fitting tribute to one of motorsport's all-time greats.